What if The Benders
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if they hunted Sam?


April 2006

Sam sat in his cage, cold and hungry. They had fed Jenkins but not him. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant. Last night they had killed Jenkins he was sure of that. He heard that blood-curdling scream and then what sounded like whoops of joy. He had no idea what was going on, only that it wasn't good.

An old grizzled man walked into the barn. "You're probably wondering what's going on?" he said, smiling a toothless smile that did absolutely nothing to reassure Sam. The old man continued without waiting for an answer. "Every year, we capture ourselves two animals. The first one we feed once a day and then let it think it escaped. We give them a weapon, and then we hunt it. The second animal, we don't feed, but we tell him what's happening and give him a ten minute head start. You're the second animal."

"So, you're going to hunt me?" Sam clarified.

"That's right," the old man said.

"Do I get a weapon?" Sam asked.

"No. No more questions. Time for fun," the old man sneered. Two younger men came in, unlocked the cage door using the electronic panel, and nodded at him.

"Get out," the old man said, aiming his rifle directly at Sam.

Sam complied. He was stiff after having sat in that cage for two days. There wasn't room for him to stand fully upright, although he could lie down straight. "You have ten minutes starting now. Run, boy!"

Sam ran.

SSSSS

Dean was meeting up with Kathleen in the sheriff's office.

"Greg, I have bad news for you," Kathleen said.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Some hikers found this jacket covered with blood out in the woods," Kathleen said, holding up a large plastic bag containing a jacket soaked in blood.

"That's Sam's" Dean breathed.

"I thought so, judging by the description you gave us of what he was wearing. A search party was sent to that area, and some human remains were found."

"What do you mean 'some human remains'?" Dean asked.

"A couple of teeth, some finger bones. It looks like a human body was butchered with the majority of it being carried away. The blood type matches Sam's. I'm sorry, Greg."

"We have to find who did this!" Dean shouted angrily.

"You can't be part of this case anymore. You're too close and it's not your jurisdiction," Kathleen answered him. "Besides, you know as well as I do that the chances of finding out who did it are one in a million. If we couldn't find him while he was alive, it will be all that much harder finding where he was now."

Dean knew that he was right. He hung his head in resignation and said, "You're right. Thanks for helping me."

Dean left the station and left the town. He didn't ever want to see that place again.

SSSSSSSSS

Sam was hiding in the bushes. He'd been hiding and moving for three days. He knew he had made a mistake in the direction he had taken. They had steered him away from civilization. He could hear them coming. They were close.

"Jared, I found him," Lee yelled.

Sam looked up to find one of the hunters standing over him with a rifle. He was almost relieved that it was over. He closed his eyes. He waited one minute, then two. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes to find all three hunters standing over him.

"Pa, nobody ever lasted this long," Jared said in amazement.

"Yeah, he's got spunk. I like that," Lee said.

"Can we keep him?" Jared asked.

"What do you mean, keep him?" Pa asked. Sam was wondering the same thing.

"As a pet," Jared and Lee said together.

"Sure, I kind of like the idea," Pa said considering. He leaned in close to Sam, so close Sam could smell his foul breath.

"Here are the rules for being a pet. Pets don't talk. Never. If I ever hear you speak, I'll cut your tongue out. Understand?" Pa asked and waited.

Sam nodded.

"To tell you the truth, that sounds disgusting, so for the first few days, I'm going to gag you so you don't forget." He grabbed the dirtiest piece of cloth that Sam had ever seen and stuffed it in his mouth, tying it tightly around his head. Sam wanted to gag, but knew if he did he would choke on it.

"Rule 2, pets do what they are told when they are told. Do you understand?" he asked again.

Again Sam nodded. He was so tired.

"Rule 3, pets walk on all fours. Do you understand?"

He had to be kidding. Sam hesitated. He was rewarded with a rifle butt to the stomach. He grunted in pain.

"Pets walk on all fours. Do you understand?"

Sam nodded quickly. He wondered if pets get fed.

"Rule 4, pets don't wear shirts. Take your shirt off."

Sam was so cold already. He hesitated again. Again, he was rewarded with the gun butt to the stomach.

"Take your shirt off, boy."

Again, Sam failed to comply. He was sooo cold. One more time the rifle butt went to his stomach, which was probably a little awkward, since he was still laying curled up on his side from the last time.

"Jared, take his shirt off for him," Pa ordered.

Jared bent down, pulled out his hunting knife and began cutting Sam's shirt away from him. Sam tried to fight him off, but Lee bent down and grabbed both his hands.

After his shirt was all cut off, Pa continued. "Rule 5, pets wear a collar, but we'll have to take care of that at home. Anything else, boys?" he asked.

"Pets have pet names," Lee said. "I like the name Scruffy."

"Scruffy, it is," Pa said. "When we yell Scruffy, you better coming running," as an afterthought he added, "on all fours."

"Come on, we'd better get going. With him walking on all fours, it's going to take until nightfall to get home," Jared said, as he kicked Sam. "Get going!" he ordered.

"Follow me, Scruffy," Lee said.

Lee led the way and Sam crawled on all fours behind him. Jared and Pa followed behind, aiming their rifles at him. An hour later, Sam was exhausted. His back hurt, he was hungry and thirsty. But most of all, he was cold.

"Let's stop for lunch," Pa said.

Everybody stopped. Pa pulled out sandwiches and held one out to Jared and Lee. He tore off a chunk of his and threw it on the ground. "That's for you, Scruffy. You can take off your gag to eat and drink, but put it right back in."

Sam picked it up. It might be dirty, but it was the first food he'd seen in days. He was smacked. "I'm only smacking you for that, because I forgot to mention, pets eat off the ground without their hands."

Sam dropped it to the ground and tried to eat like a dog. It wasn't easy, but he managed. A small bowl was put in front of him and he lapped it like a dog. He wanted more. More food and more water. He looked up piteously.

"Put your gag back in," Pa ordered.

Sam complied.

SSSSSSS

Dean called his dad's cell phone. He got his voice mail. "Dad, I've left you like ten messages to call me back. I didn't really want to tell you this in a message, but…" Dean broke off as his voice broke. He hung up. He was crying. He couldn't leave the message. It would make it real.

SSSSSSSSS

They reached home at midnight. "That took longer than I thought. Scruffy sure does walk slow," Lee complained.

"Throw him in his cage," Pa said. "We'll make more pet-like arrangements tomorrow." Sam was thrown back in his cage, along with a blanket, a bowl of water, and a piece of cold chicken. He waited until he was alone to eat and then he picked it up with his hands and ate like a human. He picked up his bowl and was drinking out of it, when a woman entered. "Pets don't drink like that," she admonished. She had something in her hands. Sam blanched when he realized what it was.

"Know what this is?" she asked.

Sam nodded.

"It's a cattle prod," she went on, and then poked him with it. He screamed. "How do pets drink?" she asked.

Sam demonstrated the correct method.

"Good boy," she said, leaning the cattle prod against the cage. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.

Sam shook his head no.

"My name's Kathleen. I'm Jared's wife, but I'm also a deputy. Your cousin thinks you're dead," Kathleen told him maliciously. "Nobody is looking for you anymore. By the way, shouldn't that gag be in your mouth?" Kathleen asked as she reached for the cattle prod . Sam hurriedly put in his gag. Kathleen smiled and withdrew her hand.

"He actually seemed relieved," Kathleen went on. "He said he was sick of having to watch out for you all the time. That you were worthless and always getting in trouble. He was always having to rescue you."

Sam wasn't listening. He knew she was lying. She was laughing as she left the barn. Sam curled up under the blanket and fell asleep immediately.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dean's phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.

"Dean, this better be important."

"Dad?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, why do you keep calling me? I told you it wasn't safe."

Dean didn't answer.

"Dean!"

"Sam," Dean said. Just the one word. Just one word at a time, he said to himself.

"What about Sam?" his father asked more gently.

"Dead."

"Sam's dead?" John asked. He must have misunderstood.

"Yeah," Dean sobbed.

"How? What was it?" John asked.

"I don't know," Dean answered.

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?"

"We came to town on a case of what we thought might be a phantom abductor. Sam disappeared. His clothes, blood, and some…" Dean broke off again. He couldn't do this.

"What?" John asked, insistent.

"Some of his bones were found in the woods," Dean finished.

John thought and made a decision. "Where are you?"

"Madison, Wisconsin," Dean answered.

"Is that where it happened?" John asked.

"No, it happened in Hibbing, Minnesota, but I couldn't stay there."

"OK, stay put. I'm coming to you. You shouldn't be alone."

"Thanks, dad."

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

The next day, Pa let Sam out of his cage. "Come outside, Scruffy," he demanded.

Sam crawled outside behind him. Pa put a collar around his neck. "Can we take the gag out?" Pa asked him. "Will you remember not to talk, because I would hate to cut your tongue out." He waved a knife in front of Sam's face.

Sam nodded.

"OK, take it off then."

Sam did so gladly. That thing tasted so bad. "Pets need routines, so here is yours. You will sleep in your cage. I will come out and get you and give you your breakfast out here. Missy will play fetch with you, he nodded at an unkempt thirteen year old. She smiled at him, but that was no more comforting than her father's smile. After that, you will follow around Lee helping him however he asks you to until lunchtime. Then, you'll have your lunch, then follow Jared around in the afternoon. After supper, back to your cage. Understand?"

Sam nodded. OK, Missy, throw the ball. Missy threw the ball, and Sam crawled on all fours to it, picked it up with his mouth and brought it back to her. This was repeated 30 times. Finally, she got sick of the game and said "Lay down until Lee comes out."

Sam lay down. Missy went inside. Sam noticed nobody was around. He stood up and ran toward the road. When he got to the beginning of the driveway, he felt a horrific electric shock to his neck and fell down unconscious. When he woke up, Pa was standing over him. "You broke the rules, boy. Roll over." Sam just lay there. "Roll over," Pa barked again, this time kicking Sam.

Sam groaned and rolled over. He saw Pa picking something up out of the corner of his eye. It was a riding crop. Pa brought it down on his back, hard, 10 times. Sam cried out each time. "Sit up," Pa demanded.

Sam hurried to do so.

"Have you learned your lesson, boy?" Pa asked.

Sam nodded. "I forgot to do something earlier, but luckily, you're not too bright," Pa said as he leaned down to put a tiny padlock on Sam's collar so that he couldn't remove it. "As you have probably figured out, you'll get an electric shock if you try to leave the property. Now, it's after lunch, so go with Jared."

Jared came out and pulled Sam by the hair until he was on all fours. Sam grunted. "You can pull the plow," Jared said, as he hooked Sam up to an old-fashioned plow, like an ox. Sam pulled the plow for the next five hours, until dinner time. Jared unhooked the plow and Sam followed him back to the house like an obedient puppy. "No supper for you tonight, after that trick you played this morning," Jared said as he ushered him back to his cage." Jared leaned over and pet him and said, "Sorry, Scruffy, but you've got to learn the rules."

Jared left, and Sam thought to himself, "My name is Sam and I'm a human." He promised himself to do this every night. He then lay down straight so that when he could stand again, his bones and muscles would move that way.

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

June 2006

"Dean, we've got to get on with our lives. Sam wouldn't want us to wallow," John said.

"I know. Let's get back to hunting. Any leads on the demon?" Dean asked in a flat voice.

"No, but there's a vengeful spirit a couple of towns over. You up for that?"

"Sure," Dean said.

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Wake up, Scruffy," Pa said in a sing-song tone.

Sam got up and padded out on all fours. "Here's your breakfast."

Sam gobbled it up quickly. After two months, he was pretty adept at eating doggy-style. Missy came up and threw the ball. Sam ran after it and brought it back. He had long since learned that the more enthusiastically he played the game, the more treats Missy snuck him.

SSSSSSSSSS

December 25 2006

Sam was cold. It was cold in the barn and the blanket wasn't worth much. Nobody came out that day. He could hear everyone laughing and smell turkey cooking, but nobody came out.

February 2007

"Time to go back to your cage," Jared said as he picked up Sam's empty supper plate.

Sam lumbered after him. On the way into the barn, something fell from the rafters and hit him on the head. He fell down stunned. A few moments later, with Jared shaking him, he woke up. He went into his cage. He stretched out to his full length as he did every night. He just didn't know why. He thought to himself, "My name is Scruffy, and I'm a dog."

The End

A/N I know, I know. Please don't send a lynch mob after me. I originally wrote more but I ended up rewriting it four times and I still didn't like it, so I decided to leave it with this heartbreaking end. I may write a sequel, though, if I can ever get the happy ending to come out right.


End file.
